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Comment by vkazanov | Hacker News Reader

Lua is definitely a likeable language and due to its (very) limited nature can be used as a first language.

But as a Linux CLI lang, or for simple one-off scripts... Python is better. Scripts (and also competitive programming) favour languages capable of compact solutions and universal stdlib. Lua, because is has no stdlib to speak of and a limited amount of syntax sugar. It is just so much less useful for these purposes.

As for competitive flavours of programming... I recently gave it a go for Advent of Code 2024.

My impressions: https://www.reddit.com/r/adventofcode/comments/1hvnou1/2024_...

My repo: https://github.com/vkazanov/advent-of-code-2024?tab=readme-o...

TL;DR Python is better here.

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Lua's best place is as the language "on top of" another language.

ie. You have a big application that has a configurable feature and you also need that configurable feature to be super flexible since the amount of possible variations on that feature is so large that it's not worth maintaining it in the "main" language. An example could be say, an enemy AI decision script in a turn based RPG. While you can hardcore the decisions into the language itself, it doesn't make it easy to modify (especially if you want to iteratively test it, since each iteration needs a recompilation of the entire program).

That's where LUA shines - instead you just put it in a LUA file and it's dynamically loaded and interpreted when it's needed, allowing you to rapidly modify it without needing to recompile the entire game.

Python is amazing for scripts that are also software in their own right, LUA is amazing for snippets (so a layer smaller than scripts), since on that level, none of it's shortcomings are a problem. The C interop and sandbox also makes it fairly easy to set up a DSL/importable module that runs your "main" language if that's what you need as well.

Fair point about the Linux CLI, especially the lack of a comprehensive stdlib. As for the syntax sugar and code terseness, maybe it's just me, but I prefer verbosity over compactness. Surely it takes more time to write and read, but personally it makes it more readable for me.

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